Hi guys....got a question!

Sorry, still not hooked back up all the way but rigged my computer up so I could ask you all a question! When you did your shrink eval.....was it with a psychologist or psychiatrist ? How long did it take and/or how many sessions did it take? The shrink's office that I'm going through said they needed to know if I needed a psychologist eval. or a psychiatrist eval. I didn't know but they said that there is a big different...geez, how many ways can you head shrink someone? Don't answer that!....lol I called Dena today, she said that Medicare request a MMPI...whatever that is! Dena said it was something about multiple persons or personalities...lol, my memory!! If it's persons, there is plenty of me to go around and if it's personalities, I have plenty, Thank you!.....lol Anyway, still jumping hoops here! Hopefully, this will all be over soon! Hope everyone else is doing good! I ask that you prayer warriors out there hold me up...please! Yesterday, I ran a b/p and h/r that wasn't good....158/104 bp, 107hr ...it stayed up for most of the day. I normally run a little high but not high enough for meds. I could of been the machine cuff...it's normal size and we all know, we need a big cuff! I wasn't feeling well and took it just below my elbow. It came out close to those numbers every time I tried. I had other signs of problems so I took an aspirin, took it easy and started pushing fluids, water mainly and started feeling better! I have had this problem before, just not numbers that high! I have found that usually I hadn't been drinking a lot of fluids during those times and felt better after flushing my body out with liquids! I'm still pushing fluids today because my body feels like I have molasses for blood! My b/p and h/r are back down to normal range...a fluke?....only God knows!! Remember, I have had the heart cath done after an experience like this before and it came out that everything was clear and wide open! It's just with all the horror stories you hear about peeps dropping over before they get to the O.R. Somedays, I just feel like I'm running out of time! Keep us in prayer as I do with you all...no matter how much you bicker about Baseball!! Love you all! Deb M.

Debbie all you need is a psychologist to do the testing. and i only had one session and then a recap of what he was going to say in the report and what he thought my strengths and my weekness were. I t0ld him i already knew those so there werent any surprises. the testing i did was about 3o4 hours long something like that. It took him about 2 weeks to get my report to Dr. H tho and then only after me calling and calling him to get it faxed to them. lol Sorry you are feeling so bad , take care of yourself and get that eval done so you can get surgery done. I am anxious for you to get well. LOL on the baseball lol Jan

Hi, Deb: I had a Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory test for my psych eval. You can read more about it at the following web site: http://www.oregoncounseling.org/Test/AboutTests.htm#Millon%20Clinical%20Multiaxial%20Inven tory%20 The test is a paper and pencil test and has about 175 questions on it. It's a multiple choice test. My psychologist had me take the exam then she sent it in and then I went to see her a couple weeks later for the results. She then complied a letter and sent the letter along with a copy of my test results to Dr. H. Basically they are wanting to make sure you don't have clinical depression and/or don't suffer from any other type of mental illness. FYI, psychologists work with "mentally healthy" people and psychiatrists work with "mentally ill" people. If you're like me, there are times when I'm not sure which category I fall under! lol Hope you find this information helpful. Debbie D.

Hi Debbie. My insurance required the psych eval and indicated a psychologist could do the clearance, if I were sane. Well, I guess the insane personalities stayed hidden for the time I was meeting..... I know what you mean about the memory thing, I have started to wonder if I have early Alzheimer's. I have to write everything down if it is important. I think it is a result of too busy lives. You probably hit the nail on the head with using the smaller bp cuff. Happens to me all of the time. UNLESS you were not feeling well. I would think the aspirin and fluids are a good thing. Is your primary care doc close enough to stop in and have another reading? If not, I think most Walmarts have the thing in the pharmacy that will check too if you are concerned. Take care of yourself. ~Diana~

Deb, I had my psych eval done by a psychologist connected to St. John's and she just talked to me for 50 min. about the surgery and what I had done to prepare myself for the changes and what did I expect from the surgery. You know, like unrealistic expectations, that sort of thing. Then I went back in 2 weeks for another session and she gave me my letter to take to Dr. Hornbostel. My insurance is Medicare and I haven't received a bill yet. It's been over a month. Hope this helps. Hugz Huera

My psych eval was a one time session that took under an hour and liek some others said, I was just asked to tell why, what I expected, what education I'd gotten on WLS, and my goals. My surgeon had Dr's he recommended and if your surgeon doesn't know who to send you to and have a relationship with the psychs in the area, they need to get on the ball. I know the programs here aren't as developed as CA and some other areas, but these Drs need to take a bigger role in helping pts succeed, from pych evals, to nutritional counseling, etc...... Tami

The psyc evaluatin is not bad. I had a clinical psycologist and he just wanted to be sure you understood the surgery and what you were getting into. You need to show you understand what will be going on with your body with all the changes and that losing weight does not solve all your problems . Sometimes people think if they lose weight all problems with be solved not so losing weight is good for us but underlying problems are still there and have to be dealt with. Some people turn from food to other addictions as they dont deal with their underlying problems. Stick it out and try not to gain any weight before surgery. Just trust in God he can handle anything.